Spectacles
by jackkel dragon
Summary: Lezard's fragile spectacles cause an unexpected visit to the Villnore armory, where the party learns some strange truths about adventurers and their spectacles.


Lezard spat out blood and shook his head to clear it from his daze. The monster had been given an opening when Dylan decided to let it bleed rather than finish it, and the beast had been impudent enough to turn and punch Lezard in the face. It was quickly vanquished by a fire storm and Rufus's arrows, but it shouldn't have been given the opportunity in the first place. Lezard calmed his thoughts as Dylan offered him a hand, deciding it wasn't worth getting angry now. Lezard grabbed the warrior's giant hand and stood up, brushing off some dirt from his robes once he gained his balance.

"I did not think he had the strength left in him." Dylan offered as an excuse.

The others walked to the spot where Lezard and Dylan stood, the battle finished. Leone gave Dylan a hard look, crossing her arms. "If you underestimate our foes again, we may not be so lucky as to survive."

Sensing a potential conflict brewing, Lezard held up his hands in a calming gesture. "Provided it does not happen again, all is well."

As Lezard spoke, Alicia tilted her head and stared. Confused, Lezard tried to figure out what she was looking at. It was difficult to see which direction she was staring; looking in her direction was like looking through broken glass.

"Did that monster break your spectacles?" Alicia pondered innocently.

Realization came over Lezard as he reached to his face and removed his spectacles. One of the lenses had been shattered completely and fallen to the ground while the other had enough cracks in it to be unusable. Lezard looked toward Alicia's direction, and though he couldn't see her face clearly, he nodded. "It appears my spectacles have been broken."

Arngrim sighed deeply, stretching his arm to relieve the tension from the battle. "Where are we supposed to find replacements for those?"

Alicia lowered her head in thought, but when she looked up Silmeria's voice came from her lips. "We should go to Villnore. I think I know where we can find a replacement."

Rufus shrugged. "Sure, Villnore's close, but are you sure they'll have any?"

Silmeria's head spun around to glare at Rufus. "Did you have anything better in mind?"

"Uh, no..." Rufus admitted, stepping back.

Silmeria nodded. "Then we go to Villnore. We can resume out search for the Dragon Orb after we've resupplied."

Arngrim chuckled. "Oh, so now it's a 'resupply' run. Right."

Dylan grunted, glaring at Arngrim. Arngrim shrugged and looked away. Lezard looked around him at the blurry figures, realizing that he wouldn't be very useful without his spectacles.

"I suppose we have little choice at the moment. Let us depart for Villnore, then."

* * *

><p>Arriving at Villnore, Silmeria led the group to an armory in the industrial part of town. A few objections were raised, but Silmeria simply shushed them away. Entering the armory, the smith came over to great the group at the door.<p>

"Welcome, welcome! Is there anything I can get you today?" The smith rubbed his hands together, examining his potential customers.

"You sell spectacles here, yes?" Silmeria asked.

"Of course we do!" The smith answered happily. "We also have poems by Bragi, dew from Honeysuckle, dwarven medicinal tinctures-"

"The spectacles will do." Silmeria interuppted. "Show us what you have."

As the smith disappeared into the back room, Silmeria turned to face a slightly bewildered party. Rufus was still scratching his head from the strange turn of events. "They sell all that stuff here?"

Silmeria nodded. "Adventurers hate going to a ton of different stores to find what they need, so armories-which adventurers will usually visit anyway-will often keep the basics in stock to increase their business with adventurers."

"Adventurers often being treasure hunters." Dylan suggested bluntly.

Arngrim crossed his arms and huffed. "I need a line of work that doesn't involve stuck-up knights."

Arngrim lost his balance to a quick jab from Leone's elbow. Righting himself, he took the hint from Leone's glare. He stepped back and decided to be silent.

Trying to bring the topic back to the matter at hand, Lezard stepped forward to get Silmeria's attention. "I was unaware adventurers often needed spare spectacles."

Before Silmeria could respond, the smith came back holding a box filled with different types of spectacles. He cleared a table and laid a few of the frames out, leaving the box at the side of the table. "If you don't know what each type does, just ask."

"Spectacles can do more than fix poor eyesight?" Leone queried.

The smith nodded. "Oh, yes. There are some that can see enemy weak points, fire beams-"

Rufus interuppted with a swish of his hands and "woah, woah, hold on. Fire beams?"

Smiling, the smith nodded. "The kids love that one. It's always the first to get sold out. Number one cause of injuries in this part of the city, you know."

Lezard stepped toward the table, examining the frames. He picked up one that resembled his old spectacles and turned to the smith with a questioning look. The smith frowned and shook his head. "Ah, that one just sees through armor."

"Through? As in, armor is invisible?" Lezard wondered aloud. He vaugely noticed that the rest of the party had decided to take a closer look at the spectacles on the table, and stepped away to move closer to the smith.

"Oh, no. You can still see the armor if you decide to. It wouldn't sell as much if you had to take them off to see armor. It just lets you see what those beasties are hiding beneath their armor plating."

An imperceptable smile began to form on Lezard's face as he contemplated the use of such spectacles. "I think I'll take these ones."

The smith nodded a few times. "Good, good. How about you buy some spares, just in case? Adventuring is dangerous business, never know what can happen."

A quick consideration on what brought him to this place decided Lezard's response. "I'll take a few spares as well." The smith moved to collect the extra spectacles of the same variety from the box as Lezard placed the new frame on his face.

Alicia was giggling at Rufus trying on a pair of shaded spectacles and trying to walk around without stumbling when Silmeria's voice spoke to her. _"Alicia, you must never again wear anything made from metal against your skin."_


End file.
